December 2015 - Genus of the Month - Tylecodon

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Bill
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December 2015 - Genus of the Month - Tylecodon

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Re: December 2015 - Genus of the Month - Tylecodon

Post by MikeT »

Not too much interest so far then...

I'll start things off with some pictures from this August/September. Strangely enough, plants in habitat don't come with name labels - any corrections gratefully received. First some of Tylecodon schaeferianus: this one was visible only as a single small leaf, until the small tuber was exposed by removing some sand (replaced after the photo).
schaef1.JPG
The £1 coin gives an idea of scale
schaef2.JPG
Then a great big one for comparison
schaef3.JPG
Then a medium sized plant to complete the set
schaef4.JPG
schaef5.JPG
Tylecodon paniculatus is on a somewhat different scale
pan2.JPG
pan4.JPG
pan3.JPG
pan1.JPG
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Re: December 2015 - Genus of the Month - Tylecodon

Post by MikeT »

Tylecodon racemosus next. The first one seemed to be suffering somewhat, with many damaged branches.
rac1.JPG
rac2.JPG
This one preferred growing with some company. Didn't really seem to be a lot of soil in there for even 1 plant.
rac3.JPG
Then one from a different site, flatter leaves but I think still racemosus.
race4.JPG
Tylecodon reticulatus next
retic3.JPG
retic2.JPG
retic1.JPG
Then Tylecodon rubrovenosus (I think)
rubro1.JPG
and Tylecodon wallichii
wall1.JPG
Not sure of this last one. Any ID please?
Tyle1.JPG
Tyle2.JPG
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Re: December 2015 - Genus of the Month - Tylecodon

Post by Apicra »

Hi MikeT,

I'm going to need an indication of localities to help with your naming. I can see photos of T. hallii as well as the names you mention. There is only one photo of T. racemosus! Am particularly interested in your Namibian photos ...

Obviously the Cotyledon & Tylecodon book by Koutnik & van Jaarsveld is the best reference for this genus.

Best wishes,
Derek Tribble
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Re: December 2015 - Genus of the Month - Tylecodon

Post by MikeT »

Thanks, Derek. Your expertise will be greatly appreciated. I'll stick to my naming as above for now.
The first Tylecodon schaeferianus (2 photos) were at Grossbucht, Luderitz, the next at Haalenberg and the next 2 (same plant) at Holgat.
Tylecodon paniculatus the 1st & 4th were at Umdaus, the 2nd at Haalenberg and the 3rd at Spitskop
Tylecodon racemosus: the first 3 were all at Lorelei, the 4th with flatter leaves at Paradyskloof
T. Reticulatus: the first was at Kosiesberg, the next (2 photos) about 6km SW of Sandberg
The T. Rubrovenosus and wallichii were both at Domorough Pass, Richtersveld
The last plant (2 photos) was at Kosiesberg.

Hope that helps!
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Re: December 2015 - Genus of the Month - Tylecodon

Post by Apicra »

Hi Mike,

Thanks for your localities - I understand you had a very enjoyable trip back last August.

From the top then, yes, I've seen T. schaeferianus at Luderitz. The Haalenberg plant with channelled leaves is interesting. This was the TL for Dinter's C. hoerleiniana, which Toelken probably correctly sunk under T. scaeferianus. Again, at the Holgat R gorge it is T. schaeferianus, but previously called C. sinus-alexandri by von Poellnitz.

The first T. paniculatus is actually a large T. reticulatus with very reticulate inflorescences. It must be much smaller than the other three larger T. paniculatus plants. I wonder if the 2nd & 3rd Namibian plants correspond to what Ernst van Jaarsveld described as var. glaucus?

Only the 4th T. racemosus photo in the RV is that, with flattened leaves. The first three from Lorelei in Namibia could be either T. bleckiae or small plants of T buchholtzianus - closer to the TL for the first name.

The first T. reticulatus photo is OK - the other two from the Sandberg, RV are T. hallii with a non-reticulate dried inflorescence.

It is difficult to distinguish T. rubrovenosus from T. wallichii without fresh flowers, but I think I agree that the first is T. rubrovenosus because of the short inflorescence. The second photo from the Domorough Pass, Richtersveld is T. reticulatus.

Finally the last two photos from the Kosiesberg are puzzling - I think it is a juvenile T. reticulatus, just forming its first inflorescence. I have been fooled by other such seedlings, but they had slightly pubescent rounded leaves. The long channelled leaves only come with maturity.

Happy Christmas,
DT
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Re: December 2015 - Genus of the Month - Tylecodon

Post by MikeT »

Apicra wrote:Thanks for your localities - I understand you had a very enjoyable trip back last August.
Yes indeed, Derek. First trip to South Africa, but accompanied by some seasoned travellers who also had far more idea about plant IDs than I had. Though even Chris (Rodgerson) and Andy (Young) were heard to comment that they would need to consult Derek for a plant ID once back home.
Apicra wrote:From the top then, yes, I've seen T. schaeferianus at Luderitz. The Haalenberg plant with channelled leaves is interesting. This was the TL for Dinter's C. hoerleiniana, which Toelken probably correctly sunk under T. scaeferianus. Again, at the Holgat R gorge it is T. schaeferianus, but previously called C. sinus-alexandri by von Poellnitz.
So I can get 2 extra names out of these plants then...
Apicra wrote:The first T. paniculatus is actually a large T. reticulatus with very reticulate inflorescences. It must be much smaller than the other three larger T. paniculatus plants. I wonder if the 2nd & 3rd Namibian plants correspond to what Ernst van Jaarsveld described as var. glaucus?
I think I was going just by the leaf shape, not taking any notice of the inflorescences. I equated reticulatus with longer narrower leaves - limited experience of the plant in cultivation. Learning something here. The first one was perhaps 8-10" high, so as you say, much smaller than the following 3 paniculatus.
Apicra wrote:Only the 4th T. racemosus photo in the RV is that, with flattened leaves. The first three from Lorelei in Namibia could be either T. bleckiae or small plants of T buchholtzianus - closer to the TL for the first name.
So I've seen rather more Tylecodon species than I thought I had!
Apicra wrote:The first T. reticulatus photo is OK - the other two from the Sandberg, RV are T. hallii with a non-reticulate dried inflorescence.
The second and third photos are of the same plant. Another species seen.
Apicra wrote:It is difficult to distinguish T. rubrovenosus from T. wallichii without fresh flowers, but I think I agree that the first is T. rubrovenosus because of the short inflorescence. The second photo from the Domorough Pass, Richtersveld is T. reticulatus.
So no wallichii. I'll have to go back through all the photos and see if I can find one that might be the real wallichii.
Apicra wrote:Finally the last two photos from the Kosiesberg are puzzling - I think it is a juvenile T. reticulatus, just forming its first inflorescence. I have been fooled by other such seedlings, but they had slightly pubescent rounded leaves. The long channelled leaves only come with maturity.
I wouldn’t have thought of reticulatus when flowering at such a tiny size - and not with those leaves.

Many thanks for your assistance, very helpful. I don't have a copy of the Koutnik & van Jaarsveld book, but suspect that I'd still be making wrong IDs even using it.
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Re: December 2015 - Genus of the Month - Tylecodon

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Tylecodon nolteei.jpg
Tylecodon nolteei.jpg (77.61 KiB) Viewed 3903 times
Tylecodon buchholzianus.jpg
Tylecodon buchholzianus.jpg (72.9 KiB) Viewed 3903 times
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